One-revolution clutch

ABSTRACT

A one-revolution clutch mechanism having a pivotal pawl on a driven member for selective engagement with a rotatable driver member as controlled by a pawl-engaging stop, and power means effective when the pawl is adjacent the stop and operative to urge the driven member in the direction of rotation of the driver member at the point of engagement and disengagement.

United States Patent Inventor Alexander J. Albrecht [56] ReferencesCited Franklin Lakes, NJ. UNlTED STATES PATENTS P 19.81 2,436,112 2 1948Machado 192/28 W 8; 5 19.. .22 we w H 2,559,117 7/1951 Falk 192 28 ux DmofSer, N 7 9,801,Nov. 13, 1 2,774,385 12/1956 Rabaseda..... 192/46 X3,499,648, which is a division of 2,853,169 9 1958 Usselmann 192/33 xNP- Q5 1A" 7, 3,409,296 2,858,388 10 1958 Eastman 192/28 x Patented Oct.12, 1971 Assignee Brunswick Corporation Primary Examiner-Allan D.Herrmann Attorneyl-lofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman & McCord ggfZ 2;ABSTRACT: A one-revolution clutch mechanism having a aims rawmg pivotalpawl on a driven member for selective engagement US. Cl 192128, with arotatable driver member as controlled by a pawl-engagl92/33, l92/148 ingstop, and power means effective when the pawl is adjacent lnLCl Fl6d71/00 the stop and operative to urge the driven member in the Field ofSearch 192/28, 33, direction of rotation of the driver member at thepoint of en- 1 148 gagement and disengagement.

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ALEXANDER J. ALBRECHT- BY f7 a 5 m. MW cam 1 ATTORNEYS.

PATENTEU ucn 21971 SHEET [1F 6 PATENTED nm 219w SHEET 5 (IF 6 PATENTED0m 1 21am SHEET 6 [IF 6 ONE-REVOLUTION CLUTCH CROSS-REFERENCES TORELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a division of application Ser.No. 719,801, filed Nov. 13, 1967, now Pat. No. 3,499,648 which is adivision of application Ser. No. 388,051, filed Aug. 7, 1964, now US.Pat. No. 3,409,296, issued Nov. 5, 1968.

SUMMARY An object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedone-revolution clutch mechanism providing improved operation byadditional power means which insures complete rotation of the clutchdriven member through one revolution and which provides an initial forceurging the driven member in the direction of the driving member uponinterengagement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of apin distributor mechanism in an automatic pinsetter;

' of FIG. 3.

While an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in thedrawings and will be described indetail herein, the invention issusceptible to embodiment in many different forms, and it should beunderstood that the present disclosure is to be considered as anexempliflcation of the principles of the invention and is not intendedto limited the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of theinvention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention is hereindisclosed as incorporated in the drive mechanism of an automatic bowlingpinsetter disclosed in the parent US. Pat. No. 3,499,648. The action ofthe clutch of the invention is triggered by bowling pins being deliveredby a conveyor belt to the pin-setting apparatus as illustrated inFIG. 1. The apparatus of the pinsetter thus illustrates only one end useof the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, suitable means (not shown) deposit bowling pinsin a series on belt 60 of conveyor mechanism 50 with the base end of thepins leading, in which position the pins are carried upwardly in aseries between opposite upwardly and outwardly inclined side-retainingwalls 61. As a pin base engages pin gate 51, the pin gate is pivotedabout a pin 64 which mounts the pin gate on a frame portion of conveyormechanism 50, so that pin gate 51 moves from a normal-sensing positionI, to a pin-blocking position 11, see FIG. 10. When pins are to bedistributed a suitable signal is fed to a control-gear system, and withpin gate 51 in pin-blocking position another signal is sent to the gearsystem indicating that a pin is available for passage to distributingmechanism 52 whereupon the gear system moves pin gate 51 frompinblocking position to a pin-passing position 111, as indicated byphantom lines in FIG. 5, whereupon conveyor belt 60 carries a pin pastpin gate 51 and deposits it base end leading into chute 53 fordistribution by pin distribution mechanism 52. Pin gate 51 then returnsto pin-sensing position shown in FIG. 2.

' Means for 1) operating pin gate 51, (2) indexing chute 53 step-hy-stcpabout a vertical axis for depositing bowling pins in holding position onguides 55, '(3) pivoting lower chute portion 71 downwardly from normalposition to intermediate holding position with a pin resting on lowerchute portion 71 and bumper 91 on center bucket 41, and (4) pivotinglower chute lower chute portion 71 downwardly an additional amount fromintermediate-holding position to pin-releasing position, while elevatingguides 55 for tipping pins into a generally vertical position forpassage through the buckets to lower movable deck 22; is provided in theillustrated embodiment of the one-revolution clutch mechanism.

CONTROL GEAR SYSTEM Power Input For Gear System Referring to FIG. 3, thegear system is driven by chain sprocket 112 mounted on shaft C forrotation therewith. Thus, shaft C is the main power input shaft of thesystem and, in turn, drives various elements of the gear assembly. ShaftC is continuously driven clockwise as viewed in FIG. 4 at constant speedby the chain sprocket, e.g. at about one revolution per second. Chainsprocket 112, a pulse cam 113 and a ratchet wheel 114 are each keyed andaxially constrained on shaft C.

Pulse cam 113 and ratchet wheel 114, the driving member of theone-revolution clutch, are bolted together in such a way that acenterline through the peak of each of the equally spaced rises on pulsecam 113 (FIG. 5) slightly trails a centerline through one of the equallyspaced slots in ratchet wheel 114 (FIG. 6) in the direction of rotation,in order that the latching end of a pawl 117 (pivotally mounted on a pin124) will contact the outer surface of wheel 114 when released by a pawlstop 118 (freely rotating and axially constrained on shaft E.)

In the form of pulse cam 113 illustrated (FIG. 5), six rises areincluded. Pulse cam 113 provides the power source for pulse cam follower119 which pivots around a movable pin 120, fastened to a ratchet pawlstop 118. Follower 119 includes a roller which rides on pulse cam 113and is springloaded to frame in a counterclockwise rotation to insurecontact with pulse cam 113. Integral with the follower 119 is a finger121. When finger 121 does not contact anvil 122, follower 119 is free torotate about pivot pin 120, which connects the pulse cam follower 119 toratchet pawl stop 118. Pin is fastened to pawl stop 118 and extends overthe side of frame 110, using frame 110 as a downward limit stop for pawlstop 118.

Referring to FIG. 6, ratchet pawl stop 118 is freely rotatable on shaftE and spring-loaded counterclockwise about shaft E by spring 123 onpulse cam follower 119 and pivot pin I20. Pawl stop 118 normally latchesto pawl 117, preventing pawl 117 from pivoting about pin 124 andengaging in ratchet wheel 1 14. A contact arm portion 126 is provided asan extension of ratchet pawl stop 118 and contacts the trip arm 127which, upon a release signal by the signal rod 128 (which connects withthe pin detector mechanism) moves ratchet pawl 118 upward, releasingpawl l 17.

Ratchet pawl 117 is pivotally mounted on pin 124 which is in turn boltedto a Geneva driver 147. Pawl 117 is normally disengaged from ratchetwheel 114 and latched to ratchet pawl stop 118. The outer surface ofpawl 117 is so shaped that pawl stop 118 can smoothly engage and depressthe springloaded latching end of pawl 117 into the position shown inFIG. 6. The end of pawl 117 which latches to stop 118 is spring-loadedin a clockwise direction about pin 124 by spring 148. The opposite endof spring 148 is anchored to a pin on driver 147.

Ratchet pawl 117, when released by ratchet pawl stop 118, engagesratchet wheel 114 enabling Geneva driver 147 to rotate with shaft C. Theend of pawl 117, which latches to wheel 114 is curved on the illustratedform (FIG. 6) to permit deflection of pawl 117 at the moment ofengagement with wheel 114 to protect against heavy shock loads which mayresult from almost instantaneous acceleration of the masses attached topawl 117. Because of such heavy shock loads, pawl 117 is fabricated ofresilient material, preferably of highimpact strength, such ashigh-quality spring steel.

Referring to FIG. 3, ratchet wheel 1 14, keyed to shaft C and bolted topulse cam 113, rotates clockwise as viewed in FIG. 6 with shaft C.

Geneva driver 147 freely rotates on shaft C and is rigidly bolted topinion 149 and pin gate cam 150 which also rotate freely on shaft C.Driver 147, pinion 149 and cam 150 are all axially constrained on shaftC. On the side of Geneva driver 147 facing frame 1 are provided theratchet pawl pivot pin 124, a pawl stop and a stud serving as anchor forthe ratchet pawl spring 148. On the opposite side of driver 147, facingframe 111, cam roller- 152 functions as the driver for Geneva wheel 154,and two other rollers R, and R are provided as Geneva wheel stop guides.The circumference of the Geneva driver 147 is a cam surface upon whichthe arm 158 of pawl accelerator 157 rides. Pawl accelerator 157 isfreely rotatable on shaft B and includes two arms, one of which isfollower 158 which rides on the outer cam surface of Geneva driver 147and the other of which is arm 159 which carries a spring for urging camfollower 158 into Geneva driver 147. The cam surface of Geneva driver147 is shaped so that follower 158 will provide additional motion todriver 147 when the ratchet pawl 117 is being disengaged from ratchetwheel 114.

Referring to FIG. 5, as indicated above, pin gate 51 has three workingpositions: (1) position 01 or the pin-sensing position in which pin gate51 is in its uppermost position for sensing presence of pins; (2)position 011 or the pin-blocking position in which pin gate 51 is in itsintermediate position and blocking the passage of pins; and (3) position0111 in which the pin gate 51 permits passage of a pin. The threepositions of pin gate 5] correspond to the three positions of followeranvil 122. The construction permits a bowling pin to move pin gate 51from position 1 to position 11 upon contact of a pin with the gate.

Pin gate 51 is in position 1 prior to the first indexing step with lowerchute 71 in its raised position and directed towards the 01 pinposition, with no pins against pin stops 62 and with no pins in thedistributor mechanism. Pin gate 51 is maintained in position 1 as longas a bowling pin does not depress the pin gate to position 111. Camfollower 161, with pin gate 51 in position 1, rides on the middle of cam150. The cross conveyor belt 50 transports pins toward pin gate 51 asillustrated in FIG. 2. Since the cross conveyor belt 50 is runningconstantly, it will push the pins against pin stops 62 thereby urgingpin gate 51 in a clockwise rotation about shaft 64. Between each of thefirst through tenth steps of operation, the pin gate cam 150 makes onerevolution per cycle, cam follower 161 rides on the high portion of cam150 which in turn moves pin gate 51 to position 1 blocking the passageof each succeeding pin. Follower 161 then rides on middle portion of cam150 and pin gate 51 moves to position 11.

To place pin gate 51 in position 111, cam follower 161 rides from themiddle to the lower portion of cam 150. Further rotation of cam 150returns pin gate 51 from position 111 to position 1 during the middle ofeach of the first through tenth steps.

Shaft C is continuously rotating, carrying pulse cam 113 and ratchetwheel 114 in clockwise rotational direction. Whenever pawl 117 isdisengaged from wheel 114, the Geneva driver 147, pinion 161, and pingate cam 150 are held stationary by stop 118.

A one-revolution clutch mechanism is provided by the combination ofwheel 114, stop 118, pawl 117, driver 147, pinion 160 and pin gate cam150 in which Geneva driver 147 is the output driver member, and wheel114 is the pawl receiving member. This mechanism provides the drive forall output motions.

Prior To First Control Step the conditions of the indexing mechanismimmediately prior to the first of the twelve steps in the cyclicoperation, with pin gate 51 in position 1, are as follows: referring toFIGS. 5 and 6, with shaft C, pulse cam 113 and ratchet wheel 114rotating,

follower 161 is about to leave the middle portion of cam 150. Anvil 122is maintained in position 1. Pawl stop 118 is latched to pawl 117 andholds pawl 117 from wheel 114 thereby maintaining pin stationary. PUlsecam follower 119 is continuously oscillating up and down about pin 120in reaction to the rises and drops of the pulse cam 113 and finger 121missing anvil 122. Chute 71 is in the raised position indexed toward the01 pin position of the stationary deck 23.

The conditions of the indexing mechanism immediately prior to the firststep of operation with pin gate 51 in position 11 are the same as thosewith pin gate 51 in position except that anvil 122 moves to position 11as a result of the action of a bowling pin against pin stops 62; finger121 contacts the top of anvil 122 and follower 119 rises on a rise ofcam 113, thereby urging pin 120 to rotate clockwise about shaft E (FIG.5) raising stop 118 causing it to disengage pawl 117; spring 148 urgesthe latching end of pawl 117 into contact with the outer periphery ofwheel 114 for sliding thereon until pawl 117 engages the next slot inwheel 114.

Finger 121 and anvil 122 are adapted so that anvil 122 can slip underfinger 121 when follower 119 rides on a drop of cam 113. Anvil 122 isurged against oscillating finger 121 by spring 168 until follower 119rides on a low dwell of cam 113 raising finger 121 and permitting theanvil 122 to rotate under finger 121. When follower 119 rides on a riseof cam 113, finger 121 contacts the top of anvil 122 and the pawl 117 isreleased as described.

During First Control Step Operation Of Pin Gate During the first step ofoperation, pin gate 51 is moved to position 11 by urging of a pinthereagainst and pawl 117 fully engages wheel 114. In the one-revolutionclutch mechanism, the constantly rotating ratchet wheel 114 will nowcarry the pawl 117 and Geneva driver 147, attached thereto by pin 124,along with it, and pinion 149 and pin gate cam 150 rotate with Genevadriver 147.

The first output motion of the one-revolution clutch mechanism isprovided by driver 147 through cam 150 to pin gate 51. lmmediately afterpawl 117 drives cam 150, follower 161 will drop from the middle to thelow portion of cam 150, to permit a bowling pin to pass to thedistributor mechanism 52. For just enough time to allow one bowling pinto be released by pin gate 51, follower 161 will remain on the lowportion of cam 150, e.g. approximately one-third of a revolution, andanvil 122 and pin gate 51 will remain in position 111.

As the pin gate cam 150 rotates through another portion e.g.approximately the second one-third revolution, it will return followerarm 161 to position 1 (FIG. 5) and in so doing move anvil 122 and pingate 51 from position 111 to l, blocking the passage of the succeedingbowling pin. Finger 121 misses anvil 122 thereby allowing spring 123attached to follower 119 to urge pin 120 counterclockwise about shaft Eto its initial stationary position (FlG. 6,) returning the follower 119to its normal-pivoting position about pin 120 and returning stop 118about shaft E to its downward position.

Stop 118 remains with pin 120 against frame 110 and down in position tostop pawl 117 at the end of one revolution of cam 150. Ratchet pawl 117will remain latched to wheel 114 for one complete revolution. During thelast portion, e.g. onethird of the revolution of wheel 114 whilefollower 161 is on the high portion of cam 150, stop 118 rides on theouter surface of pawl 1 17, depressing pawl 117 to the position shown inFIG. 6. The physical relation of cam 113 to ratchet wheel 114 is suchthat stop 118 will be lifted at the moment the latching end of pawl 117(which latches to wheel 114) passes underneath stop 118. Pawl 117 willnot disengage from wheel 1 14 until the instant that the end of stop 118contacts the radial surface of the spring-loaded latching end of pawl117. At this instant, pawl 117 is still engaged in wheel 114. Spring 148exerts a counterclockwise movement on the driver 147 through pin 124,attempting to turn driver 147 in that I direction. This counterclockwisemovement is opposed by the inertia of the parts rotating with pawl 117and by a force applied by pawl accelerator arm 158 to a cam rise 147a onthe face of Geneva driver 147 as shown in FIG. 6. The cam rise 1470 onGeneva driver 147 is so positioned with respect to pawl 117, and theforce applied by pawl accelerator 157 (supplied by a spring connectedbetween arm 159 and arm 197) is of such magnitude, that the resultingclockwise movement more than overcomes the counterclockwise movement ofspring 148 and allows freedom of disengagement of pawl 117 from a slotin ratchet wheel 114 so that as the tip of pawl 117 slips out of theslot of wheel 114 a diminishing contact area and a constant drive forcedoes not result in a mounting pressure per unit area, tending to damagethe edges of both parts. ln this configuration pawl accelerator 157comprises a powermember urging cam 147 in the direction of continuedmotion, and cam follower arm 158 comprises a movable member which isurged against the cam surface of the driver 147.

Control Of Funnel lndexing The second output motion is provided bydriver 147, which converts the single power input to sprocket 112 andshaft C into angular output motions, through Geneva 154. Driver 147performs one revolution with pawl 117. In one revolution of driver 147,follower 152 engages one of the five slots in Geneva 154 and rotates itcounterclockwise one-fifth of a revolution. Follower or roller 152engages with and drives Geneva 154 when follower 161 rides on the lowportion of cam 150, and driver 152 will disengage from Geneva 154 whenfollower 161 rides on the high portion of cam 150. The rollers R, and Rare positioned to maintain Geneva 154 in the position shown in FIG. 9during the time that follower 161 rides on the high and middle portionsof cam 150. The rotation of Geneva 154 assures fast positioning of thedistributor funnel assembly so that the lower chute 71 is directedtoward the required bowling pin storage position in the stationary deck23 prior to the bowling pin leaving the funnel assembly. Each station ofwheel 154 represents one indexing step for the distributor funnelassembly and Geneva 154 indexes and comes to a stop near the beginningof each step.

The third output motion from driver 147 is through pinion 149 todistributor lift arm 97 illustrated in FIG. 3. Pinion 149 makes onerevolution per cycle with driver 147, when pawl 117 is engaged withwheel 114 and pinion 149 meshes with gear 160 which is keyed and clampedto shaft B. Engagement of pinion 149 and gear 160 provides a three toone speed reduction from driver 147 to shaft B which means that itrequires three rotations of driver 147 to obtain one rotation of shaftB. Keyed to shaft B and rotating with it are gear 160 and pinion 177.Pinion 177 meshes with gear 138, which is part of gear and cam cluster134, providing a four to one speed reduction from shaft B to shaft D anda 12 to one speed reduction from shaft C to shaft D. The above describedoperation of portions of an automatic pinsetter mechanism driven bya.onerevolution clutch of the invention serves to illustrate itsutility, particularly in the driving of heavy machinery where high loadsare involved.

I claim:

1. A one-revolution clutch mechanism comprising a pawlreceiving membermounted on a rotatable shaft for rotation therewith, an output drivermember freely rotationally mounted on said shaft, pawl means pivotallymounted on said driver member and having an element movable intoengagement with said pawl-receiving member to cause rotation of saiddriver member by the pawl-receiving members, means yieldably urging saidpawl means in a direction to cause said engagement, a movable stopengageable in one position thereof with a stop surface on the pawl meansto hold said element out of engagement, and means acting on the outputdriver member when positioned at the point of engagement of said pawlmeans for urging of the output driver member in the direction of itsrotation. I v

2. A one-revolution clutch mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein themeans for urging the output driver member in-the direction of itsrotation includes a cam connected to said output driver member with acam slope, and a power member urged toward said cam and against said camslope when the pawl stop surface is adjacent the stop to apply arotationally directed force to the cam and output driver member.

3. A one-revolution clutch mechanism as defined in claim 2 wherein saidcam slope is engaged by said power member when the pawl stop surfaceinitially engages said stop and the cam slope continues to be engagedduring an interval of continued rotation of the output driver member asthe pawl element disengages from the pawl-receiving member.

4. A one-revolution clutch mechanism comprising a pawlreceiving membermounted on a rotatable shaft for rotation therewith, an output drivermember freely rotationally mounted on said shaft, a pawl movably mountedon said driver member and having an element movable into engagement withsaid pawl-receiving member to cause rotation of said driver member bythe pawl-receiving member, means yieldably urging said pawl in adirection to cause said engagement, a movable stop engageable in oneposition thereof with a stop surface on the pawl to hold said pawl outof engagement, a cam operatively connected to said output driver memberand having a cam slope, a movable member positioned adjacent said camand engageable with said cam slope when said pawl stop surface isadjacent said stop, and means urging said movable member toward the camslope in a direction to urge said cam and output driver member in thesame direction as the rotative direction of said rotatable shaft.

1. A one-revolution clutch mechanism comprising a pawl-receiving membermounted on a rotatable shaft for rotation therewith, an output drivermember freely rotationally mounted on said shaft, pawl means pivotallymounted on said driver member and having an element movable intoengagement with said pawl-receiving member to cause rotation of saiddriver member by the pawl-receiving members, means yieldably urging saidpawl means in a direction to cause said engagement, a movable stopengageable in one position thereof with a stop surface on the pawl meansto hold said element out of engagement, and means acting on the outputdriver member when positioned at the point of engagement of said pawlmeans for urging of the output driver member in the direction of itsrotation.
 2. A one-revolution clutch mechanism as defined in claim 1wherein the means for urging the output driver member in the directionof its rotation includes a cam connected to said output driver memberwith a cam slope, and a power member urged toward said cam and againstsaid cam slope when the pawl stop surface is adjacent the stop to applya rotationally directed force to the cam and output driver member.
 3. Aone-revolution clutch mechanism as defined in claim 2 wherein said camslope is engaged by said power member when the pawl stop surfaceinitially engages said stop and the cam slope continues to be engagedduring an interval of continued rotation of the output driver member asthe pawl element disengages from the pawl-receiving member.
 4. Aone-revolution clutch mechanism comprising a pawl-receiving membermounted on a rotatable shaft for rotation therewith, an output drivermember freely rotationally mounted on said shaft, a pawl movably mountedon said driver member and having an element movable into engagement withsaid pawl-receiving member to cause rotation of said driver member bythe pawl-receiving member, means yieldably urging said pawl in adirection to cause said engagement, a movable stop engageable in oneposition thereof with a stop surface on the pawl to hold said pawl outof engagement, a cam operatively connected to said output driver memberand having a cam slope, a movable member positioned adjacent said camand engageable with said cam slope when said pawl stop surface isadjacent said stop, and means urging said movable member toward the camslope in a direction to urge said cam and output driver member in thesame direction as the rotative direction of said rotatable shaft.